A Project by Anush Hamzehian and Vittorio Mortarotti

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says: Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

These are the words used by Robert Oppenheimer to describe his feelings after the first nuclear test in history took place on 16 July 1945 at 05:30. Our project begins here, based on reports from the other scientists involved in the Manhattan Project.

Like Oppenheimer, we agree that man is no longer the same since he invented a bomb capable of destroying humankind. But how is the whole story of the bomb told? How has it changed our perception of existence?
We travelled to Alamogordo in New Mexico to see the land on which the first bomb exploded.

“Most Were Silent” is a post-atomic journey, a reflection on the consequences of war, a glimpse into American suburbs.